Adventures in Chemistry (Italy) andThe Great War at 100 (France, Belgium, Luxembourg):Video Transcript

Tiffany Hu [Chemistry and Kinesiology majors, Class of 2016; Chemistry Trip]: The Adventures in Chemistry program was actually really appealing to me, mostly because I'm a chemistry major, so that's what I do.

Matthew Kelly [Biochemistry major, Class of 2017; Chemistry Trip]: The science was a must for me because as a biochem major, I obviously loved the science, I am throwing myself into all these courses.

Riley Kane [History and Diplomacy & Global Politics majors, Class of 2017; History Trip]: I was interested in going to Europe and seeing some of the World War I battlefields, mainly because I have always been interested in the war and that sort of thing.

Victoria Cooke [History major, Class of 2015; History Trip]: I thought this would be a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the first World War and then the years following the initial conflict.

Janet Marshall [Lecturer of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Chemistry Trip]: The goals and objectives of this experience were to give students an opportunity to learn about chemistry in context, specifically the chemistry of food and art, and a study abroad experience.

Susan Marine [Professor of Chemistry; Chemistry Trip]: Not only were they studying chemistry as it applies to art, such as the chemistry of all of the art materials, but they got to study this in a place where that art was being made.

Stephen Norris [Professor of History; History Trip]: It's the centenary of the beginning of World War I, which is more widely known in Europe as the Great War. The primary goal was to allow Miami students the opportunity to see aspects of the Great War that are still with us.

Sam Colleran [Political Science and Finance majors, Class of 2018; History Trip]: My favorite moment of the trip was visiting Verdun, where there was a huge battle in 1916 and where you can really still see a lot of the effects of it. You could see the shell holes.

Victoria Cooke [History Trip]: We were standing on top of Fort Douaumont, and to see the landscape around us completely scarred, to see villages that were once there completely wiped out.

Riley Kane [History Trip]: It was bombarded from all sides and it has the crazy terrain that is indicative of World War I, that looks like the surface of the moon. It was incredible and disturbing at the same time.

Victoria Cooke [History Trip]: When we were in Ypres, Belgium, we were able to walk in original trenches and see a lot of debris left over from the conflict.

Connor Boland [Geography major, Class of 2015; History Trip]: To see the shell craters and the trenches where men had fought and died, made the history more real.

Stephen Norris [History Trip]: Miami students were asked to, and ended up embracing participation for the first time ever in a nightly commemorative ritual held in Ypres, Belgium underneath the Menin Gate.

Victoria Cooke [History Trip]: Every single person that fought for the British Empire, that doesn't have a marked grave, their name is displayed on this gate.

Shannon Armstrong [Chemical Engineering major, Class of 2016; Chemistry Trip]: Seeing how the different cultures interacted over in Italy compared to how we interact as students in a university is very different.

Janet Marshall [Chemistry Trip]: We went to see cheese-making, we went to a winery, we had a fantastic hike to a castle that's from the Middle Ages and that was abandoned.

Shannon Armstrong [Chemistry Trip]: We took a cooking class in Florence, and we made a multi-course meal.

Shannon Armstrong [Chemistry Trip]: We studied the chemistry behind how wheat in dough is made and salt, sugar, bitterness. We had all of that knowledge going into the cooking class, so it made a lot more sense.

Tiffany Hu [Chemistry Trip]: When we were in Venice, we went to the island of Murano. We went to a glassblowing factory, and we watched the glassblowers make multi-colored vases.

Connor Boland [History Trip]: Study abroad, no matter where you do it, gives you a broader context and understanding of different things that you may learn academically. And so, it becomes real.

Sam Colleran [History Trip]: This experience will definitely help me, primarily as a political science major, to understand the influences that the past have had on Europe today, and on America.

Riley Kane [History Trip]: To stand out in the fields where soldiers had fought and died, and to feel the wind blowing on my face, or being rained on. It expanded my understanding a lot more by letting me physically experience a little part of what other people in the past did.

Victoria Cooke [History Trip]: I am actually taking a capstone this semester about the Great War, and I've decided to write my thesis about concepts and things we encountered while we were over there on the trip.

Tiffany Hu [Chemistry Trip]: I definitely gained a lot more respect for the international students who come and study abroad.

Shannon Armstrong [Chemistry Trip]: I think it gave me more of a respect for how we treat each other. You realize everyone here is a big family.

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